Vehicle-wheel testing appliance



Oct. 22, 1935. v A WEAVER l 2,018,160

VEHICLE WHEL TESTING APPLIAYNCE Filed oct. 145, 1934 iii Patented oct. 22, 1935 VEHICLE-WHEEL TESTING APPLIANCE Ira A. Weaver, Springfield, Illr, assignor to I. A.

Weaver Engineering Company,

Springileld,

lll., a corporation of Illinois Application October 15, 1934, Serial No. 748,310

' 6 Claims. (Cl. 'I3-51) One of the principal objects of the present invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive, portable appliance for rotating an automobilewheel at a relatively high speed to test its dynamic balance and at the same time to ascertain whether or not the wheel has either lateral or radial runout.

A further yaim oi? the invention is to supply an apparatus of this character whose rotary driving wheel or disc can be easilyand quickly adjusted, as by tilting, to be in the same plane as the vehicle-wheel which it rotates. A A

An added purpose of the invention is to furnish a device of the type indicated which is portable and to provide it with means so that it will readily stand in anupright position when not in use.

When either or both of the front wheels of an automobile is or are statically or dynamically out of balance and revolving at a high speed, the unbalanced force of such wheel tends to pivot or turn the Wheel about its king-pin, thus causing the one or both wheels to exert an iniluence to constantly change the steering direction of the vehicle, this movement being so rapid, 600 to 1000 revolutions per minute, that the vcar does not have time .to respond to the change of direction, with the result that the one or more Wheels is or are constantly forced to slip sidewise, which action obviously quickly and unduly wears the tire tread, and, inasmuch as these movements occur in regular cycles during the wheel revolution, they tend to gouge spotsor depressions in the tread of the tire. y

Such unbalanced wheel condition also serves to excite and to produce shimmy and tramp in the car, the vibration in some cases being so great that the drivers hands become numbed from grasping the steering-wheel y Radial eccentricity and lateral wabble causes the dirigible or steering front wheels of the vehicle to turn or pivot around the king-pins and to produce substantially the s'ameeifect as unbalanced wheel conditions.

Heretofore, when a person complained that his automobile shimmied or was subject to abnormal or excessive tire wear, it has been customary for the mechanic to drive the car at high speed on the highway to determine the actual conditions, a practice obviously both more or less expensive and somewhat dangerous.

Static balance cannot always be detected while the vehicle-wheel remains mounted on its spindle of the car due to possible brake drag, tight bearings, heavy grease, or friction of grease-retaining felt-washers, and, accordingly, to determine static wheel balance, the wheelis ordinarily removed from the car and placed on a balancingstand, a procedure which is slow and relatively costly in time, and, even when the wheel is statically balanced, it may beoutlof balance dynamically.

While one ofthe main or leading aims of this invention is to Asupply an appliance which will permit the testing of the vehicle-wheel while it is on the car, nevertheless the apparatus may also l0 be conveniently employed to spin a vehicle-wheel while mounted on a balancing-stand, such, for example, as is now in common use in'tire-shops and in automobile serviceastations.

For the accomplishment ofv the above stated 15 and other desirable objects and purposes oi' the invention, I have devised the present preferred rembodiment ofmy invention illustrated in the accompanying sheet of drawings and described and claimed below, and for simplicity like reterence numerals have been used'to designate the -sarne parts throughout the several views.

Figure 6 is a section on line B--B of Figure 4. f By reference to this drawing, it will be noted that the new and improved testing or wheelspinningappliance incorporates a hollow, horizontal cross-member or casting Il equipped at its opposite ends with rubber-tired carryingwheels l2, i2 which may be mounted thereon in any approved or convenient manner, as, for instance, by being afxed to the ends of an axle i3 extended through the tubular body Il 'and revoluble inappropriate bearings I4, Il inside'oi such casting. v

A hollow bracket casting I5 is located above and bears on the member Il and is hinged vthereon or pivotedthereto near one of its ends by means of a bolt I6 extended through aligned apertures in the two parts, th one such aperture being located in a bearing i1 on the part l5 and the other in a boss I 8 forming a portion of casting l I.

One part of such bracket above its hinge or pivot bolt carries an electric-motor I9v which is .the usual way.

motor is adapted and designed to revolve a drive wheel or disc 22 partially housed in a guard or shield 23 fastened to the bracket by screws 24,

the wheel or disc being desirably and conveniently cable 28 through which the electric current isv supplied to the motor entering the handle at the point 29 and leaving the handle at its lower end, as shown in Figure 3, where it is coupled .or connected to the motor. i

and which when in use is plugged into an electric outlet; may, when not in vservice,be mounted on the fixtures or hooks 3|, 3|, as is customary in connection with vacuum electric carpet sweepers.

'I'he handle is also iltted with an electric-switch 30 which-controls the operation of the motor in In order to tiltor angularly adjust the drive wheeler roller .22 and its motor in minor degree to bring the wheel into the true plane of the vehicle-wheel which it is to revolve, the interior of the handle at its lower part is fitted with a rod 32 welded or otherwise secured thereto to turn with the handle, the latter being properly retained in its bearing 25 bymeans of a washer 33 below casting 3| and held in place by a pin 34 through the lower` end of rod 32.

Such rod extends through a slot 3l in an extension 33 of casting Il at a point somewhat remote from the axis of the hinge or pivot bolt |3.

From an understanding of what precedes it will be apparent, that, when the handle is turned about its own axis in bearing 25 the rod or pin 32 will move with it, and since the slot 35 is stationary, such turning of the handle in the one direction or the other will correspondingly rock the bracket Il, the motor, and its driven disc or wheel 22 to tilt the latter in either one of opposite directions so that it may be easily and readily adjusted to the proper inclination to conform to that of the vehicle-wheel-to be rotated thereby.

Stop pins 3l, 3 1A located inside of the bearing 25 limit the degree of turning of the handle about its axis, as will be readily understood.

Casting I| is provided with a foot 33 so that when the portable appliance is brought into a substantially vertical or upright position, as shown in Figure l, it will maintain such position without falling over.

. In order to support the-motor more adequately.

the" leg or foot 33 is-provided withan adjustable screw 33 bearing against the motor-casing and thereafter assisting in the support of the motor.

This new portable appliance is used substantially as follows:

Either one or both of the front wheels of the vehicle is or are elevated from the oor as by pended claims and without the loss of any of its 7secured to the bracket by screws 2|, 2|, and this driven by the motor at a high speed which may be as great as a'road speed or from 80 to 100 miles per hour, this being accomplished in a few seconds.

If the unbalanced force in the spinning ve- 5 hicle-wheel is very great, the entire automobile will be violently shaken because this force acts rearwardly and forwardly as well as upwardly and downwardly during each revolution of the wheel, causing the wheel to pivot about its kingpin due to any slack or give in the steeringmechanism.

'y The automobile wheel is then allowed to decelerate when .rates of vibration will tune with certain parts of the car which can be readily l5 That portion oi the cable external to the handle 2 noted. i

'I'he opposite wheel may also be spun while the first wheel is still revolving, and, if both wheels are out of balance, their unbalanced forces will meet,or. coincide at certain periods, producing a 20 substantially marked effect due to the fact that one wheel is rotating faster than the other.

If the wheel-bearings lare badly worn, this condition can usually be detected while the test for balance is being made.

Lateral runout or wabble can be quickly determined by the travel of the face of the tire across the driving wheel, and, if the vehiclewheel has a radial eccentricity, there will be a violent pounding effect on the testing appliance. 30

Thus the condition of the vehicle-wheel may be comparatively easily ascertained merely by spinning it at a high speed by this new portable apparatus. Y

It is to be understood that various changes may. 3B be incorporated in the device shown and del scribed without departing from the heart and essence of the invention as defined by the apmaterial benefits. d0

I claim:

1. In aportable, vehicle-wheel, testing appliance adapted to be used with a vehicle-wheel raised from the floor or ground by means structurally separate from the testing appliance, the 45 combination of a support, a single revoluble driving-wheel on said support adapted to engage the tread of a vehicle-wheel without supporting such wheel and to rotate the vehicle-wheel at high speed when the weight of the vehicle is 50 removed from the wheel, and means on said support `to revolve said driving-wheel at the required speed.`4

2. The construction presented in claim 1 in combination with means to adjustably tilt said u driving-wheel to permit 'it to conform to the plane of the vehicle-wheel which it is to rotate.

3. 'Ihe construction presented in claim 1 in combination with a handle mounted on said support to turn about itsown axis, and means 00 operated by such turning of said handle to adjustably tilt the driving-wheel to permit it to conform to the plane of the vehicle-wheel which it is to rotate.

.4. Inra portable, vehicle-wheel, testing appli-f f ance adapted to be used with a 4vehicle-wheel raised from the floor or -ground. by means structurally separate from the testing appliance, the combination of a wheeled-truck, a bracket hinged onl said truck, an electric-motor and a drivewheel rotated by said motor both mounted on said bracket, a handle for said truck mounted on said bracket to turn about its own axis, and means actuated lby said turning of the handle to rock said bracket on its hinge to adJustably tilt www@ 3 said drivewwhee t@ pemit the mite: t9 @mmm ii. The sti-ummm mesented in claim 4 in which to the @amber slope -o @me waaide-whew whisk saisi imei; has a ieg to engage the oor whenthe it is to ratate. @opname is in a substantialy upight position A 5. Ihe'structure pesentedin claim 1 in which @support it against tipping over from such 5 said support has a leeg' to engage the mm ts main piasition.

tain the appliance in a substantially upright po- IRA A. WEAVER.

sition when not in use. 

